The Biggest Little Babies on Land
Meeting the orphaned elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Like so much today, this story too begins with Twitter. Scattered amongst journalist Yashar Ali’s often-viral tweets about towels and Donald Trump were gripping updates about the antics of a naughty baby elephant named Esampu. Naturally I googled “Naughty Esampu”, not realizing that it would be the first step of a journey that would end two years later in Nairobi, Kenya, with me watching elephant calves slurp formula from bolster-sized bottles.
Esampu lived at The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which operates the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. Started in 1977 by Daphne Sheldrick, and now managed by Daphne’s daughter Angela, the Nairobi-based Trust raises orphaned baby elephants until they are old enough to be re-integrated into the wild. The babies at the nursery have lost their parents due to poaching, drought, or due to human-wildlife conflict. When the Trust learns of an isolated calf, they helicopter over and then transport the infant to the nursery, where the keepers care for them till they are ready to attempt independent living.
The Trust regularly tweets videos of the babies’ shenanigans, as well as heart-warming clips of elephants successfully re-entering their wild habitats. So…
